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On this day for the United States
Events
1806 –
Andrew Jackson kills
Charles Dickinson in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of
bigamy .
1854 – The
Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the
US territories of
Nebraska and
Kansas .
1868 – Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "
Memorial Day ") observed in the United States for the first time (By "Commander–in–chief of the
Grand Army of the Republic "
John A. Logan 's proclamation on May 5).
1879 – New York City's
Gilmores Garden is renamed
Madison Square Garden by
William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and
Madison Avenue .
1879 – An
F4
tornado strikes
Irving ,
Kansas , killing 18 and injuring 60.
1883 – In New York City, a rumor that the
Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.
1911 – At the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway , the first
Indianapolis 500 ends with
Ray Harroun becoming the first winner of the 500–mile auto race in his
Marmon Wasp .
1914 – New & then-largest
Cunard
ocean liner
RMS Aquitania , 45,647 tons, sails on her maiden voyage from
Liverpool , England, to New York City.
1922 – In Washington, D.C., the
Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
1948 – A dike along the flooding
Columbia River breaks, obliterating
Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
1958 –
Memorial Day : The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during
World War II and the
Korean War , are buried at the
Tomb of the Unknowns in
Arlington National Cemetery .
1967 – At the
Ascot Park in
Gardena, California ,
daredevil
Evel Knievel jumps his
motorcycle over 16 cars lined–up in a row.